10 Iconic Video Games You Almost Lost To Development Hell

3. Resident Evil 4

Although Resident Evil 4 turned out to be one of the most iconic games of the last decade, you could have been forgiven for thinking that it was going to be an absolute dud if you were around during its troubled development. Starting out life under an entirely different director, the game went through numerous prototypes in the years before release, moving from the classic survival horror set up of the original titles to a version where you fought ghosts instead of the series' iconic zombies. Even then, although the game officially began development on the GameCube in 2001, there was an earlier prototype that was somehow adapted and changed into what would become the original Devil May Cry. In fact, there were so many different rejected variations of Resident Evil 4 during its production that it's a miracle Capcom managed to stick with one at all. Fortunately for players, after three further rejected prototypes - one of which still remains unseen by the public - the director of the original Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami, took over directorial duties, and the rest is history.